READING, Pa. - The eighth-ranked Salisbury University football team begins the 2021 season on Friday with a non-conference road tilt against the Albright Lions. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff at Gene Shirk Stadium.
THE RUNDOWN
LIVE STATS
LIVE VIDEO
PDF GAME NOTES
2019 STATISTICS
SPRING 2021 STATISTICS
The Series: Salisbury leads the overall series against Albright, 6-3, with Salisbury having the upper hand in the past two contests. The Sea Gulls and the Lions have played in seven season openers and the last five traditional season openers with the maroon and gold cruising to a 63-28 win at Albright last time out. At games in Reading, the series is tied 3-3.
Last time against Albright: Salisbury rolled to a 63-28 win over Albright in the 2019 season opener. Salisbury gained 488 yards of total offense with 360 yards on the ground and 128 through the air. Jack Navitsky went 5-of-8 for 112 yards and three touchdowns.
Albright was held to 267 yards of total offense and committed four turnovers. Patrick Bernardo and paced the Salisbury defense with seven tackles. Sean Carroll had five tackles, two pass breakups and a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown in the third quarter. Sam Pagella and Robert Jadick each registered five tackles. Pagella secured an interception in the first quarter. The Salisbury defense got to the Albright quarterbacks four times, led by Sam Pavlick who collected a pair of sacks.
Bert Schrecongost went a perfect 9-for-9 in his extra-point attempts.
National Rankings: Salisbury received national love from a plethora of preseason polls. Salisbury was slotted eighth in the D3football.com Preseason Poll and seventh in Lindy's Preseason Top 25. The Sea Gulls were the highest-ranked team in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) in each of the national polls.
Preseason All-America: Senior offensive lineman Joseph Osborne and senior defensive back Sean Carroll were named to the 2021 D3football.com Preseason All-America teams back in August.
Osborne, who earned first-team All-America accolades during the shortened spring 2021 season, was selected to the D3football.com Preseason All-America Second Team. The versatile road grader anchored an offensive line that ranked first in the NJAC in scoring average (31.0), total offense per game (348.5), rushing yards per game (275.5) and total touchdowns (7) in the spring season.
A D3football.com All-America Honorable Mention pick after the 2019 season, Carroll garnered third-team honors on the preseason list. A ballhawk and strong presence in the secondary for the Sea Gulls, Carroll heads into the 2021 season tied for eighth in career interceptions with 10 in his time in the maroon and gold. A season ago, Carroll led the Salisbury secondary with a team-best five interceptions. Two of his five interceptions were returned for touchdowns, which led the NJAC. Carroll also added 67 tackles, which ranked second on the team and five pass breakups in 2019. He also earned 2020 D3football.com Preseason All-America laurels before the suspension of the fall football season.
All-NJAC Returners: Along with the D3football.com Preseason All-America selections, Salisbury returns 11 All-NJAC honorees from 2019 and the spring 2021 season. On the offense, senior quarterback Jack Lanham headlines the All-NJAC returners. The two-time NJAC Offensive Player of the Year was also a D3football.com All-East Region selection in 2019. Lanham, Osborne, senior slot Chad Gleason and junior superback Marcus Wilson highlight the offensive All-NJAC returners.
On defense, the senior-laden squad brings back Carroll, Jamere Furbush, Robert Jadick and Aaron Jahnke but also sophomore linebacker Casey Counts are the All-NJAC returners to the Sea Gulls in 2021.
Senior Bert Schrecongost and sophomore Chris Clark are the two All-NJAC specialists that return to the fold in 2021.
The Captains: Salisbury will have five captains to lead the flock in 2021. Seniors Jack Lanham, Joseph Osborne, Chad Gleason, Sean Carroll and Bert Schrecongost were announced as captains before the start of preseason camp.
Building with non-conference games: Since joining the NJAC in 2015, Salisbury has a 4-2 record in non-conference games with a three-game non-conference winning streak entering the 2021 season.
Among the Greats: Salisbury head coach Sherman Wood ranks in the top-20 of active coaches in wins, regardless of NCAA Division. Entering 2021, Coach Wood is tied for 19th with Willie Fritz of Tulane amongst active coaches in victories with 177. He had more career victories than other notable coaches with 20 or more years of experience such as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa and Gary Patterson of TCU.
No Fly Zone: Senior All-American defensive Back Sean Carroll looks to climb the career interception list. He ended last season tied for eighth in career picks with 10.
T4. Du'Juan Wilson (1998-2000) - 12
T4. Greg Stanton (2010-13) – 12
T6. Tim Jones (1993-93) – 11
T6. Marvin Robbins (1985-89) – 11
T6. Fred Bess (1877-80) – 11
T8. Sean Carroll (2017-present) – 10
T8. Rob Wagner (1983, 1985-87) – 10
T8. Jay Jefferson (1977-79, 1983) - 10
Scouting Albright: Albright is back on the field after a 2019 season where the team finished with an overall record of 2-8 and a Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) record of 2-6 and split two exhibition games in spring 2021 against Lebanon Valley and Alvernia. The Lions were picked eighth in the MAC Coaches' Preseason Poll.
The Lions offense returns senior wide receiver Kevin Zehner, who received All-MAC Second Team honors in 2019. Zehner led the team and finished seventh in MAC in receiving yards with 743 yards on 51 receptions and eight touchdowns. Senior running back Tony Thorpe also returns to the team after leading the team with 604 rushing yards and six touchdowns.
On defense, the Lions return senior linebacker Sam Viera who was also on the All-MAC Second Team in 2019. Viera tallied 78 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception. Fellow linebacker Daniel Vital returns after finishing second on the team with 57 tackles, three tackles for loss and 1.5 sacks in 2019. Senior safety Armon Jefferson and junior cornerback Omar Sesay will lead the secondary after they each recorded a pair of interceptions in 2019.
